The use of mobile communications devices continues to experience astronomical growth. Factors contributing to this growth include advancements in network technologies, lower data usage costs, and the growing adoption of smartphones, such as Android®- and Apple®-based smartphones. As a result, many users now have multiple computer-based electronics devices, many or all of which are in use and operating at one time, such as a smartphone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet, etc.
A key feature of such devices is that they are small and relatively lightweight. Thus, people tend to typically carry these devices with them everywhere throughout the day, for example, to work, meetings, appointments, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and so forth. Because such devices are small and lightweight, it can be very easy to lose or misplace such a device, or to have it stolen.
Techniques for recovering or locating a lost or stolen mobile communications device are known. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0210240 entitled System and Method for Remotely Securing or Recovering a Mobile Device, expressly incorporated herein by reference, discloses the use of a remote web access page to interact with the missing device, for example, to lock the device, to locate the device, to back up data, to restore data, or to erase data. Likewise, related U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0188064 entitled System and Method for Remotely Initiating Playing of a Sound on a Mobile Device, expressly incorporated herein by reference, discloses remote initiation of a sound from the device from the remote web access page. Also, U.S. Publication No. 2012/0196571 entitled System and Method for Remotely-Initialed Audio Communication, expressly incorporated herein by reference, discloses techniques for establishing audio communication with the missing device. However, each of these solutions is built on and relies upon the operating system of the device, which may be wiped and completely re-installed with a new image if the device is actually stolen, thereby rendering these solutions ineffective.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a secure method for locating a mobile communications device that is lost or has been stolen.